"Tokens of affection don't have to be extravagant to be brilliantly received," the book's introduction imparts.

Plenty of extravagant gifts offering shoppers escape from the tumult in the financial world remain. There are limited-edition $105,000 Jaguars, motorcycles for $73,000 and a $25,000 "Cupcake Car" custom-made of colorful fabric, wood and sheet metal and powered by a 24-volt electric motor.

For especially "green" shoppers, there's an eco-friendly chandelier made of 366 plastic bottles rescued from the landfill. Yours for just $12,000.

The Dallas-based chain and its luxury competitors are being forced to adjust their inventory and prices as their well-heeled clients splurge less and stay focused on practical items since the financial meltdown ballooned last fall. While luxury stores' sales have stopped falling in recent months, they remain weak -- and worse than for U.S. apparel stores overall.

Neiman Marcus, privately held since 2005, reported last month that its fiscal fourth-quarter loss widened compared with a year earlier as revenue fell 26 percent and consumers kept a lid on their spending. For the quarter that ended Aug. 1, the retailer reported a loss of $168.5 million, compared with a loss of $35.6 million a year earlier. Revenue fell to $768.1 from $1.03 billion last year.

For the full fiscal year -- as revenue fell 21 percent to $3.64 billion from $4.6 billion -- the retailer lost $668 million, compared with a profit of $142.8 million a year earlier.